1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to building materials blocks. More specifically, this invention relates to building materials blocks used in the construction of water containment enclosures.
2. Description of Related Art.
A variety of building materials and techniques are used and well known in the construction of water containment enclosures, such as showers, bathtubs, saunas, and hot tubs. Generally, these prior materials and techniques involve the use of wood products, which eventually fail due to mildew, warping, and leakage, and/or involve the use of custom poured cement, which use is time consuming, expensive to pour and to remove, and subject to cracking.
The reader is referred to the following U.S. patent documents for general background material, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for the material contained therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,757 describes a threshold assembly to be used with a conventional barrier free shower.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,347 describes a shower foundation having a curb formed as an integral part of the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,002 describes a shower base having a threshold formed by long plastic members over a 2xc3x974 lumber base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,004 describes a prefabricated shower module.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,870 describes a shower stall threshold composed of two opposed forms of plastic whereby mortar is poured in-between to stabilize the threshold.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,911 describes a water dam for preventing water from running over a bathtub enclosure having facilities for showering.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,335 describes a prefabricated shower receptor.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,178 describes a seal for the joint between the threshold and posts of a shower stall door.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,385 describes a prefabricated shower receptor.
Presently, the most common method of producing a quality shower threshold is to position forms on either side of proposed curb and positioning the forms in the precise alignment so as to have the end product plumb on both the front and the back sides, level across the top lengthwise, and with a slope on the top to facilitate draining excess water toward the front of the curb back into the water containment area. The pan is positioned in-between the forms so as to keep the pan in a continuous vertical position around the water containment area. The area between the forms is then filled with cement. The installer must then wait for the cement to cure, which time is typically at least twelve hours, before finish materials can be installed. The resulting cement form may then be finished with tile or other finishes as may be desired. The quality, including straightness, strength, water resistance and durability, of the resulting product may vary greatly depending on the skill and practices of the persons forming the curb.
A number of problems may arise during this process. The curb is usually installed after the surrounding walls are finished and painted, which prevents the forms from being nailed or screwed to the walls to hold them in place, without damaging paint and walls on the outside of the shower area. This problem also occurs on the inside of the shower where the pan runs around the perimeter of the shower, wherein if the form is attached with nails or screws the pan must be punctured, thereby creating a susceptibility for leaks from the pan. To avoid having to make these damaging attachments to the wall, most installers will use a heavy item, such as a box of tile, bag of cement, brick and the like, placed up against the forms on either side to hold the forms in place. This is not an easy or reliable method for keeping the forms in place, since it is common that the forms will slip out of position by the weight of the cement as it is poured, resulting in a finished curb that is not plumb, level, of uniform width or which has the proper slope on the top of the curb. Therefore, the completed resulting enclosure is likely to be subject to undesirable leaks.
An additional problem with poured cement curbs is that it is common for there to be a size difference between sites. This size difference, from site to site, means the forms may not work in successive sites, leading to additional excessive expense for forms. Also, time is wasted as new forms are made and installed, especially if the curb is to have a corner or a radius.
An inferior, but not uncommon, method of constructing a water containment curb, generally taught by xe2x80x9cdo it yourselfxe2x80x9d books and videos, is to build the curb out of wood, wrapping the pan up the front and over the top of the wood curb. The pan and wood are then wrapped with metal lathe and a brown coat of typically xc2xd inch of cement is deposited thereon. This method also requires a cure time of many hours. Sometimes, an inexperienced installer will replace the metal lathe and brown coat with a prefabricated cement board or even sheetrock. In each of these approaches, staples, nails or other fasteners are required to attach the metal lathe, thereby puncturing the pan. Water then infiltrates the structure, leading to wood rot, mildew, sweating, contraction, warping, and water containment failure.
It is desirable to have a prefabricated block adapted specifically for use in the construction of water containment structures in homes. Such water containment structures are used in the construction of showers, bathtubs, saunas, hot tubs, pools and the like. It is particularly desirable to have a prefabricated block that is provided with structure for holding a pan or liner in place and which facilitates the construction of a curb, for containing water, that has a sloped top surface.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a prefabricated block and a method whereby a water-resistant curb may be constructed having water-resistant qualities and long life.
It is another object of this invention to provide a prefabricated block that can be used to construct a water-resistant curb with a reduced amount of skilled labor.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a prefabricated block that can be used to construct a water-resistant curb while avoiding a lengthy curing period.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide method of constructing a water-resistant curb and providing a prefabricated block that can be used to construct a variety of water-resistant curbs with uniformity of shape and strength.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of constructing a water-resistant curb and providing a prefabricated block the use of which avoids the need for pouring cement materials.
A further object of this invention is to provide a method of constructing a water-resistant curb and a prefabricated curb block that includes features for holding a pan or liner in position.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a method of constructing a water-resistant curb and a prefabricated curb block wherein the use of nails, staples, screws and other piercing fasteners into pans and walls is reduced or eliminated.
Additional objects, advantages, and other novel features of this invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of this invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Still other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description wherein there is shown and described the preferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of one of the modes best suited to carry out this invention. As it will be realized, this invention is capable of other different embodiments, and in its several details it is capable of modification without departing from the concept of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.